Russian Strike On Military Facility Kills Dozens In Ukraine

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A Russian airstrike on a military training ground in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region likely killed dozens, sources say.

The Ukrainian military has confirmed there were casualties but did not specify how many. Well-informed sources report between 30 and 40 soldiers were killed, and 90 to 150 were wounded.

Saturday’s attack struck “an army training ground near the village of Cherkaske” outside Dnipro city, the administrative center of Dnipropetrovsk region, military officials said.

“The tragedy… is a terrible consequence of an enemy strike,” Ukraine’s land forces commander, Major General Mykhailo Drapaty, stressed, expressing “heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.”

Russia’s defense ministry showed a video of what it claimed was an Iskander-M ballistic missile striking a military camp in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday, adding it inflicted “heavy casualties.”

Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s army chief, said Russia had struck with cluster munitions but did not disclose casualty details.

Ukrainian lawmaker Mariana Bezugla claimed the strike happened when soldiers were lined up in formation, accusing commanders of “stupidity” and an “inability to adapt to new realities.”

INSTITUTE TARGETED

Another military source denied these versions of events. There have been several such incidents during the three-year war, including a strike on a military institute in Poltava in September, killing around 60 people.

Drapaty said there were “unlearned lessons” and added, “Anger is eating away at me from the inside.” He accused some military officials “who continue to negligently” fulfill their duties.

He said he would not allow anyone to “try to hide the truth in the fog of bureaucracy.”

It came roughly a year after, in February 2023, at least 60 Russian troops were killed after their training area in occupied eastern Ukraine was hit by two missiles.

Sources familiar with the situation said troops had gathered at the site in the Donetsk region for the arrival of a senior commander.

A Russian official confirmed that a strike occurred but described the reports as “grossly exaggerated.”

While capturing headlines, many more soldiers are believed to have been killed daily on the frontlines in a war that broke out with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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